MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Thanks for the reply. It's a shame to hear that it's not available. Time to buy some pleurax.


Michael

Does anyone know if Bill Dailey is still selling Zrax? His web page on zrax hasn't been updated since 2011. I contacted him about buying some but haven't heard back yet. He mentions on his site that Klaus Kemp sells it in the UK but I don't see it on his site. Wondering if I should continue to wait ...

"Lots of diversity alright. When you say "clean" do you mean you will isolate the diatoms from all that extraneous matter on the slide, or are you going to conduct that complex procedure involving acids?" Both! The process of cleaning breaks down the organic matter in the sample and diatoms. So if i...

And a few more.

I carried a few sample vials with me on a trip this past weekend to the Jacksonville, FL beaches and at a restaurant near there I took a sample from the brick (and oyster bed) of an old boat ramp. I just did a quick check with a thrown together slide (dirty, reused slide and cover slip) and I think ...

Very good. one thing, I couldn't determine is; how did you get the shaft out of it's housing? You must have removed the other knob, somehow. The other knob just screwed off. The AO exploded diagram for the Cycloptic shows that end threaded and there was no pin. I held the pinned end and unscrewed t...

Try as I might, I was not able to remove the pin with the force I was comfortable in applying. I tried with Microbob's suggested jig but ended up splitting the first one (grain the wrong way) and just putting quite a dent in the second one. What I did discover in the process though is that the shaft...

Apochronaut, thanks for the offer! I'm gong to go ahead and give the de-pinning and unbending a try and if that fails I'll take you up on your offer.

I asked this question on the Facebook American Optical Microscope group and a knowledgeable person there is warning me that these shafts are frequently bent...and frequently break when attempting to un-bend them. I will probably give it a shot but I may be back looking for a new shaft

JeffO, thanks for the heads up! The collar where the pin is appears to be painted brass so at least that's sturdier. And thanks for the idea of using the drill collars to make a "drill block". I happen to have a pack of various sizes that I bought for some reason (whatever it was, it wasn't for thei...

Thanks for the replies! The end in the pictures seems to be peened over a bit and I don't think it would fit through. Hard part is going to be setting it up to get a good solid backing...and finding something stiff enough to withstand the hammering (gentle).

I picked up a very inexpensive Cycloptic type-M from ebay. It's in pristine condition except that the shaft for the focuser knobs is quite bent. On the theory that "what was bent can be un-bent' I removed it from the arm of the microscope. I'm left with one of the knobs attached to the shaft. Unfort...

I spent some time researching this when I was rebuilding my AO microscopes. By way of compromise (short of paying $$$ for the built-to-task specific greases) I have been using Super Lube Synthetic grease. https://www.amazon.com/Super-Lube-21030-Synthetic-Grease/dp/B0785BFQ8Z/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1...

I have been honing my lathe skills attempting to turn a parfocal photo tube for my trinocular AO 20 microscope. I'm starting to run out of patience. Does anyone have a spare one? Accordion to the ever-valuable xmission site I think it's the 1044 that I need: https://user.xmission.com/~psneeley/Perso...

I finally have a bit of a starter collection going. I'm still working on getting my "permanent" camera set up going so I don't have photos of much of them. Here is a list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LAdUuvsThr1sp-I7FsadVK90qPeqnHHiC04QTs_hKfo/edit#gid=0 I would love to trade and would l...

Thanks for the links! I have mined the forms for any reference I could find for AO 20s but apparently I didn't do a very thorough job. I don't have the 1240 condenser (waiting to find one reasonably priced) but I do have the single annulus condenser. I would definitely appreciate getting that tiffs ...

That's beautiful! Something to aspire to with my own AO 20. How do you accomplish oblique lighting with the AO 20?

I think all of the Canon EOS cameras can be tethered to a computer via the EOS utility which you can get for free from Canon. I have a Canon t1i (aka D500) which I will be setting up this way. There is also an android app for tethering I believe. And tethering can be wireless for the later Canon's. ...

I don't know anything about the hammerhead brand or if there is something special about it but Loctite also makes a glue intended for glass that they market as "crystal clear and dishwasher safe". It's Loctite 233841. Amazon and some of the box stores also carry it. I'ts on my agenda to test it shou...

Hahaha, reminds me of an episode of the Brady Bunch... Your directions are more than enough for my needs. Thanks again! oooooooops, I just made a wild guess, my bad. Try 4 miles at 285 deg. Actually, I was right by the river, half way between the surf and the trees. Can’t do much better on this Ipad...

GPS data would be great if you have it. Right now I'm just using generic coordinates for "Lumahei Beach". 4miles SW of Kalypso Sports Bar appears to be in the mountains

Dale wrote:Michael and Lorez, do you need gps data? Does 4 miles SW of the Kalypso
Sports Bar in Hanalei, Kauai work?

In the Diatom Forum over on yahoo groups someone started a thread earlier this month (10/6) saying that they were experimenting with polystyrene dissolved in toluene. The problem they ran into was that it required so much toluene that when they were drying the mount on a hot plate the mountant shran...

I have been living in Florida for 8 years and visited many locations but only started collecting sand very recently. I have a grand total of 1 sample collected locally along a stream. I would be happy to trade that of course. I'm hoping to get a chance to go to the coast (one or the other) in a few ...

I understand completely. That's not how I operate, but I definitely understand :D I'm a collector and I have a "collector's attitude". I appreciate just accumulating a variety of things. Obviously the more unique the item is the more collectible it is but like you I don't spend $$ on rare items. In ...

I have been looking around for sand swapping sites as well and found the same thing. Lots of suggestion from people that they swap sand but I found none that seem very active. I expected to find a facebook page or two for it but found nothing. I just bought some sand on Ebay and I'd be glad to trade...

That sand is definitely unusual! I did a little digging and the photo was taken by David Maitland. He has a website (done entirely in flash...), www.davidmaitland.com. His email address is on the contact page. Would definitely be interesting to know where he collected it. He lives in Norfolk, Englan...

I found a number of "glass glues" on Amazon as well. This one claims to be "crystal clear": https://www.amazon.com/Loctite-233841-Super-Crystal-Dishwasher/dp/B01J05XXJA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1508377215&sr=8-2 Probably take some refinement of technique for spreading it. Hard to beat the convenience ...

Here is a picture of a quicky mount I did using "Hard as Nails" natural colored nail polish (the clearest one I had on hand). Incidental light with no transmitted light source. It was actually surprisingly clear for transmitted light as well but I didn't get a good shot of it. I'll get one. http://w...

Very nice photos, Michael. I have a couple of questions. First, when magnification is mentioned, at what point is the calculation being done ? A scale bar would go a long way in clarifying size, but I completely understand the limitations of the point and shoot camera so this is not a criticism. If...

Good to hear a positive experience for nail polish. I have plenty of sand, slides, and nail polish (or I think my wife does :) ) so I'll give it a try. thanks, Mike Hi, I have had success with clear nail polish, but I don't use a cover slip.. I use objectives with a long WD to keep from making conta...